Microsoft Releases Windows 7 Service Pack 1
By: Arie Slob
Today, Microsoft has released Windows 7 (and Windows Server 2008 R2) Service Pack 1 (SP1). SP1 is a combined service pack for both operating systems encapsulated in a single installer.
Windows 7 SP1 doesn't introduce any major new features. There are a few minor changes though:
- Improved HDMI audio performance.
- Minor XPS document fixes.
- Better support for third-party federation services.
- An updated version of Remote Desktop Services.
SP1 further contains an aggregation of previously released and new hot-fixes and other bug fixes.
Documentation for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1 is available for download at Microsoft's Web site and includes a Deployment Guide, a list of Hotfixes and Security Updates included a "Notable Changes" document as well as general Release Notes.
Hotfixes are only made available on request when you encounter a specific problem, and are integrated in a Service Pack when they have passed all testing. So it is still useful to install this Service Pack, it will reduce your risk of running into 'known' issues that have been fixed.
If you are a "home user"; i.e. you only have one or two systems to update, you should use Windows Update to get SP1. The size of that update will be around 45-75 MB, but it will depend if your system is up-to-date on current patches.
Direct downloads to standalone packages:
If you aren't sure if you have 32-bit or 64-bit version of Windows, type system in your Windows Start search box, click on System that's listed below the header Control Panel, and look at the line that reads System type:
Depending on your system specifications, installation should take anywhere between 45-75 minutes, although we've had some reports of the install taking well over 90 minutes on some netbooks. The most likely cause of the slow install on a netbook is that these usually have a combination of a slow processor (Intel Atom) and low RAM (1GB).
If you encounter any issues, post a message on our Windows 7 forum.